For
the sake of keeping your business, some credit card companies will
reduce your rate if you simply ask them to.

In
the Money: U.S. Currency TriviaIn celebration
of the redesigned currency, SaveWealth.com has compiled a collection of
little-known facts about the greenback.

For instance, the
term "greenback" came from non-interest-bearing notes called
Demand Notes, issued by the U.S. in 1861. These notes, with their green
backs, were used to finance the Civil War.

SaveWealth has done
a little more digging around. Thanks to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and
Printing, here are some other little-known facts:

Say No to
Recall

Every piece of U.S.
paper currency ever issued since 1861 is valid and legal tender. The U.S.
has never devalued or recalled currency.

Biggest Bang
for the Buck

The highest value
paper currency was the $100,000 Gold Certificate. Issued in 1934, these
notes never made it into circulation, but were instead used for transfers
between the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve banks.

Washington
As Popular As Ever

Think the $1 bill
is insignificant? Think again. One dollar bills account for 45% of all
notes printed, making the $1 bill the most commonly printed.

Major Case
of Writer's Cramp

In 1861, when the
U.S. issued its first major issue of paper currency, each note had to
be signed by hand by representatives of the Register
of the Treasury of the Treasurer.

Handwritten signatures
lasted only one year, when signers complaining of writer's cramp petitioned
for new legislation allowing the signatures to be engraved and printed
right on the currency.

The Weight
of the Bill

Every note, regardless
of value, weighs 1 gram. That means 454 bills will equal one pound.

Domestic vs.
International

The U.S. dollar is
popular around the globe. In the U.S., the $1 and $20 bills are the most
common. Around the globe, the $100 bill is the most common.

'Til Death
Do Us Print

The U.S. has not changed
the historic figures on paper currency since 1929. Should a vacancy open,
deceased applicants need only apply. U.S. law, passed in 1866, prohibits
portraits of any living person on currency.

Men and Women

Martha Washington
has the distinction of being the only woman whose portrait has ever graced
U.S. currency. Martha made an appearance on $1 Silver Certificates in
1886, 1891, and 1896.

Talk About
Circulation

The government prints
roughly 8 billion notes each and every year, enough to stretch around
the equator... 30 times.

And Now For
Some Perspective

If you could stack
14.5 million dollars, in $1 notes, that pile of currency would reach a
mile high.

The projected Federal
Budget Deficit for 2005 of $521 billion is enough to build a stack of
$1 bills stretching for 35, 931 miles high.

For
all things releated to money, check back to SaveWealth.com for the latest
news and updates!